So it goes
by Last-Summoner
Summary: Daniel Faraday has come unstuck in time with a man he used to call his Constant. Daniel/Desmond, rated PG-13 for a kiss.


Listen:

Daniel Faraday has come unstuck in time.

He has seen people that used to be dead walking through the jungle. He has stood in front of a strange underground bunker while it appeared and disappeared before his eyes. He has talked to people (better to be said, one very important man) that were originally miles upon miles away from him.

Somehow he never was afraid for himself, because he _never lived for himself_, but, he didn't know why, he never thought of himself seriously. He was like a unique, weird hero, which was needless for everyone around. Some called Daniel "strange", some - "crazy", some - "foolish", whispering mockingly behind his back, but it didn't bother him, because, as a time traveler, he had a duty to do.

Listen:

Daniel had a very special man to be attracted to, as he let himself lost in the infinity of time. His one name was Desmond Hume, a gone man from a bunker that was built and destroyed by the terrifying forces of time under Dan's gaze. His another name was Constant, that was what he was to Faraday.

Dan met Desmond after he had flown to the ship with an Iraqi man named Sayid, and after Daniel himself got stuck on the Island. And their first meeting was weird, producing start of a weird relationship. They met in Dan's college.

Daniel was just a little younger back then; he had long hair and was always tidy. Desmond, on the contrary, had a short cut and dressed with careless manner of a furloughed soldier. It would be wrong to say it in so pathetic way, but still Dan could only tell about Desmond that he bursted into his life like a curse and a blessing, like a messed up Messiah. Daniel couldn't understand, in what exact moment Desmond Hume stopped being just a weird stranger to him and became A Constant, someone precious and important, more important then anyone else. Maybe when Desmond lost his temper because of the hopelessness of his situation, and Dan calmed him down, putting his hands on Hume's shoulders carefully, or maybe when Desmond lost his senses and Dan caught him from falling, embracing his warm body that smelled sea water and was so nice to the touch, or maybe when Dan watched his eyes moving under his eyelids as he time-traveled. But, no matter how, they became bonded by forces that cannot be ruled.

It's a pity that their bond was one-sided, and Desmond didn't need Dan as much as Dan needed Desmond. But Daniel had nothing against it, he knew, maybe too well, that that was not in his power to change. So it goes.

After their very first meeting Daniel that had long neat hair and was a college teacher sat down at his covered with papers and notes table and wrote down in his diary: "If anything goes wrong Desmond Hume will be my constant". Then Daniel that had short messy hair and was a weird scientist on a weird job opened his diary and read those words. And he felt, right in the moment he read the last word of that simple sentence, that everything will never be the same in his life.

Then, listen, listen, they met again. That was dramatic, very dramatic in some way, but Daniel never had inclination to dramatize, and Desmond simply didn't understand. It was quick, but still blinding, like a flash of lightning sticking the lonely-standing tree.

That was the time when Widmore's affair was impetuously coming to a head, and everybody was trying to save themselves. Daniel and six lucky survivors came to the ship on the Zodiac, and Desmond was there to help people climb on board. Their eyes just briefly met. Desmond said something, Daniel answered something, and both of them felt that Dan wanted to stay on the ship, to stay with Desmond, his Constant, to talk to him not just about how many people he had brought on the Zodiac. But Island and his duties pulled Daniel away like a thread that couldn't be cut. Faraday sat back to the Zodiac's rudder and swam away from the ship, and he had thought that he felt Desmond's gaze on his back, though he wasn't quiet sure about it.

Listen:

Something unthinkable happened after a man named Benjamin Linus tried to save himself, Island and the whole world. That made Daniel and some other people lost in time. Faraday felt desperate anxiety and insane need to make everything right, put everything on its places. He knew, maybe too well, what could have happened, and the fact that there was nothing constant around him was only increasing his fear.

Listen:

Daniel Faraday that came unstuck in time ran through the rain-forest. He got lost in jungles, and it was like a mere mockery to him - he wondered, lost in jungles that were lost in time. He didn't quiet understand how he managed to lost Charlotte and the others. After the last flash, that meant Island time-traveled again, it suddenly became dark. For a while Dan could see almost nothing, and then his eyes got used to the night's poor light. He was alone.

- Charlotte! - He shouted for the only person he really trusted on the Island. No one answered. He took a deep breath to shout again, allowing himself for once to forget about consequences, but something metallically cold that pressed to the back of his head made him fell silent.

- Hands! Lift your hands so I can see them! - barked someone behind Dan, and Dan did as he was told. He dared to turn to the owner of the voice, but that someone hit him in the back, and Dan twitched and stood stock still. Another voice appeared and started conversation with the first one:

- He's probably one of _them. _

- Maybe he knows something?

- Oh, he won't know anything, I'm sure he's useless.

- So what shall we do with him?

- Kill him and carry to that trees, we'll bury him later…

Dan's heart betrayed him and stopped beating for a second. He heard himself asking, almost crying out desperately:

- Don't, please, don't shoot me, I… - And then a gun cocking.

He didn't even noticed a flash of light that showed another Island's jump through time, he was only listening to the sounds two men were making behind his back. He heard a deafening sound of a shot, and the whole world drowned in that sound. He screwed up his eyes. Seemed like he cried out someone's name.

So it goes.

Someone's hands grabbed Daniel's shoulders. He continued to hold his eyes shut tightly, and he cried out loud and desperate "No!", and he extended his hands in front of himself as if that could protect him. But nothing happened. Hands on his shoulders tightened their grip, and a quiet voice shushed him:

- It's okay, it's okay, everything is alright, Daniel, it's alright…

Daniel Faraday opened his eyes. The man who held him was someone he didn't expect to see (ever again) – his Constant.

- Desmond…

Daniel embraced Desmond's hands, his glance unsteady and wondering on his Constant's face. Long hair. Bristle. A tiny wrinkle cutting through his forehead. He had changed so much.

- Desmond…

- Why are you here, Daniel? What's happening?

- Desmond… - Dan's hands wondered on Hume's body, as if he was blind and wanted to recognize the person in front of him; as if he was insane and wanted to assure Desmond is really there. He certainly was.

Light touch everywhere – on shoulders, cheekbones, through his hair, on chest, hands, face again.

- Desmond… - He didn't dare to ask if he was dead already. He lost his breath. Then, as if some secret button of his was pushed, he smiled, relieved for the sudden moment of rest, and leaned to Desmond, embracing him firmly, as if they hadn't seen in many, many years. It was true.

- I thought you're dead, I thought… didn't know… - he murmured, not caring if Desmond heard him or not. Hume's hands petted his back, and he lulled:

- Aye, aye, brother, calm down…

Without even knowing what he's doing, without even thinking of regaining self-control, Daniel sharply cupped Desmond's face that was pure perplexity, pure incomprehension, and kissed him on lips, lightly, almost impossible to feel, but still desperately, then once more. His hands on his Constant's cheekbones trembled just a little. Desmond stood motionless, his hands on Daniel's shoulders strained, as if he didn't know what to do – to pull Faraday closer or to push him away, and Dan thanked him for his hesitation.

He time-traveled again when he pressed his lips weakly to the corner of Desmond's mouth, and when the pressure of his Constant's hands on Dan's shoulders grew enough to move him away. There was the light, as usual, and that strange tense sound that reminded Daniel of his machines back in college.

When he was able to breath again he was back in the jungles. He heard some woman's voice calling his name. He felt weakness and regret. He wasn't sure if he was time-traveling or hallucinating or dreaming. Maybe he didn't want to be sure. It made him nearly sick. He was still alive.

Listen:

Daniel Faraday did know a lot of things, and didn't know even more. One of them things he didn't really know well was his Constant, a gone man named Desmond Hume. One of them things he did know was he himself, and his duty as a time-traveler.

Listen:

Daniel Faraday has come unstuck in time. So it goes.


End file.
